UNM Press books selected for NBC News Summer Reading list

The two books, The Girls in My Town by Angela Morales and The Tombstone Race by José Skinner, are among recently published titles authored by Latino writers who continue t share journeys, lived or imagines, that underscore the uniqueness and universality of the Latino experience. The books explore an expansive emotional territory, from the intimate spaces of home to the chaotic streets and from the devastating choices of youth to the challenges of motherhood.

In The Girls in My Town, author Angela Morales tells her story of navigating through her own girlhood while contemplating moments of loss and longing, truth and beauty, motherhood and daughterhood, through autobiographical essays. Growing up as a young Latina in Los Angeles, Morales remembers fighting for equal rights for girls as a sixth grader, calling the cops when her parents fought, and recalling her parent’s divorce.

The Tombstone Race by José Skinner.

The TombstoneRace paints the picture of a teenager accused of homicide, who finds little support from his family or community, a woman protecting her gay brother from a conservative town and closed minded ideals, a graduate student studying a street gang, and a former police officer patrolling his own neighborhood after being fired for shooting a deranged man. Set in New Mexico landmarks like Fort Sumner, Taos, Chimayó, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Clovis, these 14 stories explore what it means to be different.

Author José Skinner uses his former experiences as a Spanish/English interpreter in the criminal courts of New Mexico to tell these stories and explore the state’s changing cultures.